Happy Holidays!

For everyone out there... it is officially December. Where, oh where did 2010 go? Well, I know where approximately 10 weeks of it went - maternity leave.....

And now, it is December.... and a time for everyone to wax poetically about the new year coming, and the old year ending.....

ahhhhhh......

Okay, that is enough. How about some super cute kids?

Look at that cheese....


And this is what happens when you attempt to get four cousins together for a group shot...

First, there is the older two, not listening.... (which is quite surprisingly, normal)


Then you have the mover and the shaker, unable to sit still (in fairness, we did attempt to have him placed last)

And then you get not everyone smiling...

But sometimes, you get the mother lode... but of course, you have to get Jackie's card to see that. :) Sorry, no spoilers here!

But I hit pay dirt with this little gem.


Doesn't Jaina look SO old in that picture? She has officially lost two teeth, and the tooth fairy has been to visit. She thinks that is SO cool.

And very soon, she will have to watch her feet, because little man is going to start crawling around her.... watch out world!

Wassup!

Not much has been going on here, but it seems like the weeks are flying by.

I was on a conference call with a co-worked today and he mentioned that when he first entered the workforce, he couldn't wait for the week to be over, but now, he thinks that there aren't enough days in the week. Sad to say, many days I feel the same way.

Pardon the mess... my children are making memories

that is my new favorite quote. I try to use it as a catch all for those times when I don't want to clean.

Simply put, I am NOT a great housekeeper. After driving to and from work, when I get home, it is time to eat. And by that point, I have not even really spent any time with the kids yet. And that is just a regular night, not those other nights when we have dance, bible study, bells, or Mike is coaching some sporting event. But I digress...

This morning, I woke up (or more correctly, Jackson woke up) at 4:15 am. This is been a problem this week since he has had bronchitis. So I fed him a bottle, and he went back to sleep fairly quickly. I realized that my kitchen was a disaster (because I had overlooked it last night, and watched my DVR of Castle instead), and thought "Hey! I am awake. I should contribute to this housekeeping thing. Let's clean!"

So I did. the entire kitchen. At 4:30 in the morning. Dishwasher emptied, filled, bottles cleaned, and counters wiped.

I thought, "Hey, I should keep going! And take a shower! Then I can help Mike with the kids!"

This is where my fatal error occurred.

I sat down......

Then I laid down.......

And that, my dear friends, is how I overslept.

Enough about me. I did manage to take and edit some pretty cute pictures of the kiddos, but I will let you be the judge.

Guess who learned how to sit?


Yes, she will be famous someday, and I will be able to sell this for millions


Note really sure who is more scared here...







LOVE LOVE LOVE this one


Have a great day!

Photographer, I am not

So I am coming to a quick conclusion that photographing two kiddos is infinitely more difficult than one. Especially since the once good-natured natural model has also decided to be a pain in the rear.

As an attempt to be more frugal.....I am attempting to take my own photos. I first had to convince Mike that in order to be more frugal, I had to buy Photoshop Elements 8. (I knew I had no shot of the full photoshop, and I am intimidated enough by elements)

So, I have been playing. And learning, and playing, and learning. I keep hoping at some point, it gets easier.....right?

Okay - so sunny days with a fence = bad idea.


Another bad idea? Going without a helper that was an adult to help the almost sitter...




And then, realizing your skill is AMAZING at getting grass in focus... (but not the kids).....



And then having an elderly couple come take a picture of all three of you that puts your pictures to shame (I LOVE Jaina's little house on the prairie look here).....


But finally, a little success. I love this picture, and with a little editing advice from many blogs, it looks kind of okay....

But I think this is one of the times that I need to relish in the little things, because someday I will realize they were the big things...

Have a great day!

Slippers!

Have I ever mentioned that my mom rocks? Actually, she knits, but she rocks my socks off.

In fact, she frequently rocks my socks off into her very own felted slippers.

Since she started making slippers about six years ago (I had my first pair at the hospital when I was in labor with Jaina), and she hasn't stopped. We all (minus Jackson) have slippers. They are a slice of heaven....

And now she has moved on to a new pattern, so hey, new slippers for me! I love the gig of being the guinea pig.

I always know that fall is coming when I get cold enough to wear my slippers.... I love fall.

These particular pictures were a photo "shoot" that we did of my mom's slippers, so she could sell some online.... Don't they look delightful?



Anyway, I don't have much else to report... Jackson is learning to roll where he needs to go, and is almost sitting up.





And Jaina likes the slippers too. We had to add her to the photo shoot.....

Jackson Davis

As promised, here are some pictures of the boy.... (Let's hear it for the boy!)

More after a bit... I have to get my tiny dancer :)

Blue

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to the new man in my life......


This is Jackson Davis Groen. You can also call him JD, Jack, or plain Jackson. I like all of them, and haven't settled on the nickname I like the best.

Jackson joined us on March 31, 2010, about six days earlier than any of us planned. Jackson was stubborn from the beginning, refusing to turn head down to come out naturally, so, a scheduled c-section was planned for April 6.  This suited me just fine, because April 6 was well into April..... diamond month......

Although I am now convinced that Jackson and his father had a deal. He decided to become an aquamarine. If this is any indication of his future personality, I may be in trouble. Early in the morning sometime on March 31, my water broke. I am not sure when, I just know I woke up feeling...... funky. And realized either my water broke, or I could NOT stop going to the bathroom. (oddly enough, his cousin Eli did the EXACT.SAME.THING)

So I woke Mike up with something like, "Hey, my water broke." And he said "Seriously?"  (Another funny tidbit: on December 21, 2009, Sara said "Hey, my water broke." and Justin said "Seriously?" - they must be brothers)

Anyway, back to the story. We high tailed it up to Sioux Falls, and since he was breech, and now there was no fluid, c-section was the solution. So at 8:18, Jackson came into the world.

Some other fun factoids:

• Jackson is the first male born on my mother's side since the birth of my grandfather (an only child), some 90 years ago. To say he has become somewhat famous is an understatement. 
• I thought I was having a girl (which would hold true, because with Jaina, I would have bet my house we were having a boy.)
• When naming him Jackson Davis, I had no idea that JD was also tied to the Dukes of Hazard. Seriously, might not have done that had I known. So, when asked, I now answer "I guess it was time for the General Lee to win one..... "

From this point, now you will get to read about BOTH of my kids. And I will hopefully have some recollections of every thing they tell me... Have fun!

**So the blogger won't let me add pictures... so I will add more later :)

Long Time.. No blog

Yes, I realize it has been a tremendously long time. I really have no excuse. The main reason is I decided that I was going on strike from blogging..... not sure why. Seemed like something everyone was doing, so immediately, that meant I had to stop......

But then I started reading some of the FABULOUS blogs out there, and thought, this blog deserves another chance. So here goes nothing....

Before I get too far, I had better give you an update as to what we have been up to so far since April 2009......

Let's see...

August 2009... Jaina turns 5....
and starts Transitional Kindergarten with Mrs. Groen :)























Fall 2009.... Jaina moves into her new bedroom downstairs (and yes, it is this messy all of the time)


To make room for this......

December 2009.. got an early Christmas gift from my Brother and Sister in Law.....

We call him Eli......













In March 2010 (March 31, 2010 to be exact..) We got an early Easter present...

This is Jackson Davis Groen

In August 2010.. Jaina turned 6, and started Kindergarten

This is pretty much the only expression I can get out of her these days. It is a little annoying and frustrating all at once.

And then, Jaina lost her first tooth.... right before school pictures. (Which, oddly enough i didn't take any pictures of.) But the tooth fairy came, and paid her $2 for her tooth (inflation is on the rise.)

So, that brings us to today, September 28. I worked from Home this morning.... and am taking the afternoon off to take Jackson to his six month appointment. I hope to post more later, but really should do some cleaning first...